Cooling tower



F. LEWIS COOLING TOWER May 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 22, 1955 5 y MJ 07/ MJ .w 6 WMWIV p. nu@ J |w 7N fWIHnoJ A. l 6 H. lmi2( H. I. I .l H//e WZM l- 1. .Mr 5 P M 3 Mw QJ MWJ M @W00 ATTORNEYS May 7, 1957 F. I Ewls 2,791,408

COOLING TOWER Filed Sept. 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1. NVENTOR [mmlelms' 8% w-yrfma ATTORNEYS United States Patent i CGOLING TOWER Frank Lewis, Louisville, Ky.

Application September 22, 1955, Serial No. 535,865

2.Claims. (Cl..26124),

This invention relates to cooling towers usedf in conjunction with air conditioning equipment of the type used for-building vconditioning and wherein the tower is `usually erected on the building roof.I

Most cooling towers now in use are more or less permanent fixtures, difficult to disassemble for repair and practically impossible to clean interiorly. They are of great weight particularly in the larger sizes, and impose loads which the building roof is not designed to support. They have a iXed capacity and cannot be changed to meet changed conditions. The tower must be removed and a new one of proper capacity installed. If the condition is temporary, the building owner must undergo heavy expense or the building occupants put up with uncomfortable conditions until the condition is relieved.

The object of the present invention is to provide a cooling tower in which provision is made to vary the capacity of the tower over a predetermined range.

Another object is to provide such a tower having a light-weight, readily removable wet deck cartridge to permit easy access to the interior of the tower for cleaning or repair.

A further object is to provide a wet deck cartridge for a cooling tower of novel construction providing ease of assembly and disassembly and greatly increased deck surface area.

Yet another object is the provision of a cooling tower wherein the fan and its housing are readily removable to permit quick changes of fans when the capacity of the tower is to be changed.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one practical embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the drawings which accompany, and form part of this specification.

ln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cooling tower constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the tower, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tower with the grille removed and the wet deck cartridge partially withdrawn from the cabinet;

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross section through a portion of the wet deck cartridge, taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2; and,

Figure 5 is a partial horizontal section taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a cooling tower which is in the form of a cabinet 1, to be mounted on a building roof. The base of the cabinet is composed of a water collecting or recirculating pan Z of heavy steel welded construction. The pan is provided with steel legs 3, which serve to support the cabinet.

The sides 4 of the cabinet are of sheet metal, preferably light weight metal such as aluminum, and may be embossed or otherwise decorated to give a pleasing ice appearance to ther cabinet. One' endv of the cabinet is closed by asimilar sheet metal end memberS, having a relatively large fan opening," 6. The opposite-end of the cabinet is,Y coveredbyfa decorative' air intake screen or grille 7 which is secured in place by wing nuts 8 for ready removal;

The top of the'unit consists'of ai closed water distribution pan 9, which has its top provided with downturned ilangesilt) to ti over` the walls of the cabinet. The top maybe secured'in place byvr screws 1v1.

This-provides a cabinethavingcan opencentral chamber to receive a-wet deck cartridgell ,over which` water from the pan 9 iiows, and from which water drains into the collecting pan'Z. Ran. 9V has its bottom perforated, as at 13, t-o allowwaterl tovtrickle ordrip through. onto the top of. the Wet deck. A` line 14 brings hot water from the air conditioning unit to the distribution pan. Water is fed from the collection pan to the air conditioning unit by means of pipe line 15.' The usual'overflow pipe 16, make-up water line 17, and make-up water control float valve 18 are connected to the collection pan 2.

A fan 19 is mounted exteriorly of the cabinet on a shaft 20. The fan is mounted for easy removal for a purpose to be described. The fan is housed in a circular fan guard 2l having a screen cover 22. The guard is removably -attached to the housing by screws or other suitable means. The fan may be driven by a motor 23, mounted within the cabinet and having its shaft connected directly to the fan blade. Air is drawn in by the fan through screen 7, over the surfaces of the wet deck and out through screen 22.

The wet deck cartridge is made up of a plurality of aluminum plates which are corrugated and plastic coated with an asphalt base plastic. The plates are perforated, and the plastic is applied by dipping and the holes then blown clear. This gives complete plastic protection over each sheet. Two of the plates, 25 and 26, serve as side plates and are connected to rectangular, anglealuminum end frames 27 and 23. Before one of the end frames is mounted, the remaining plates 29 are slid into place between the side plates, the corrugations of the vertical side plates serving as trackways for the horizontal surface plates. When the end frame is screwed, or otherwise secured, to the side plate the assembly is complete. Stainless steel angle members 30 are secured at the bottoms of the sides to form rails upon which the cartridge can slide into and out of the cabinet, the rails riding on the heavy stainless steel companion angles 31 secured to the base pan. The entire cartridge is tilted slightly toward the intake screen end so that all of the surface plates decline toward that end for better water distribution.

When the device is in operation, water drips down from the distribution pan onto the top plate of the cartridge, through this plate to the next, and so on until the water reaches the collection pan. The corrugated and perforated plates provide excellent break-up of the water so that the air flow induced by the fan is more effective. Better distribution of the water over the surface area is obtained, and the construction of the cartridge provides greater surface area than other wet decks of comp-arable size.

Due to the large surface area of the present wet deck and the more complete water break-up, it is possible to use a given cabinet size and wet deck cartridge over a range of required capacities, such as two, three and four ton for example. Since the surface area is adequate for even the largest of those capacities, a change in air flow and water flow will change the cooling rate. Since the fan guard is readily removable, the fan may be removed and one of different size substituted. The water ow rate can be properly regulated and the capacity is changed. This has been impossible with existing towers as wet decks for the lowest capacity have required a cabinet equal to that of the present invention. The present cartridge provides sufcient surface area for the highest capacity mentioned with no increase in size.

k*This permits the utilization of the one unit for several capacities.

The present tower will be extremely lightweight and, upon removal of the cartridge, all parts will be accessible for cleaning and repair.

While in the above one practical embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it will be apparent that the invention may take other forms than that described, and shown within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cooling tower, a cabinet having a Water distribution pan at the top and a water collection pan at the bottom connected by side plates, an end plate for said cabinet having an opening therein, a fan removably mounted exteriorly of said cabinet in axial alignment with said opening, a removable guard about said fan, a wet deck cartridge slidable into and from said cabinet through the open end thereof, and a grille attachable to said open end, said wet deck cartridge comprising, rectangular end frames, side plates of corrugated and perforated material connected to said end frames with the corrugations extending horizontally, a plurality of sheet metal shelves which are corrugated and perforated having their side edges seated in the corrugations of said side plates to be held in vertically spaced relation thereby.

2. In a cooling tower as claimed in claim 1, said side plates and said shelves being plastic covered.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,323,666 Yardley Dec. 2, 1919 1,916,907 Sargent July 4, 1933 2,224,221 Galson Dec. 10, 1940 2,562,827 Simpson July 31, 1951 2,627,396 Simons Feb. 3, 1953 2,634,959 Cave Apr. 14, 1953 Mart Aug. 25, 1953 

